Episode 0H (Manga)
Synopsis In a flashback, a white-haired man calls out to Guts on an abandoned battlefield, littered with bodies. He helps a younger Guts, who possesses both eyes and both arms, up from beneath a pile of corpses. The white-haired man laments that all humans are subject to an unchangeable fate, and wonders what his own place in the world is. As he admits to Guts that he is the first person to whom he's asked these questions, an image of Femto appears behind the man's face, confirming the man's identity as Griffith, the man who would go on to become Femto. In the present, the God Hand attempt to goad the Count into Branding his daughter while Guts tries to convince Puck to heal his hand. Femto diverts their attention to an endless void in the distance, a swirling mass of souls of deceased people Femto describes as a small portion of Hell. The God Hand tell the Count that he can either Brand Theresia, thus sacrificing her to continue living, or be absorbed by the souls in the whirlpool and dissolve into nothingness, as all Apostles do when they die. The Count, unsure of what to do, proclaims that he doesn't want to die, but sees visions of happier times with his wife and Theresia. He takes too long to decide, and the last remnants of his life ebb away, and as a consequence, the souls in the whirlpool swarm their way towards him and assimilate his human body into their formless mass. Puck notices Vargas among the souls dragging the Count into themselves. The Count and Theresia reach out to one another before he is dragged into the void. Another tendril-like mass of souls has found Guts on the ground, and because of the Brand attracting them on his neck, they attempt to drag him down along with the Count. Acting quickly, Guts reloads his cannon arm for one last shot at Femto, which explodes a few feet away from the demon, who remains unharmed. The force of the cannon shot makes the souls lose their grip on Guts, and he falls to the ground. With the Count's purpose for summoning the God Hand fulfilled, Guts and Femto exchange a final glance towards each other before Guts, Puck, and Theresia are transported back to the destroyed castle. Puck's attempts to speak to Theresia are rebuffed, and she wishes to go back into her room. She expresses the desire to kill herself rather than go on living, an idea encouraged by Guts. The remark shocks both Theresia and Puck, the latter of which slaps Guts. Guts continues on, however, and tells Theresia that if life is so terrible for her, she should slit her wrists with a nearby serrated dagger. As she is about to do so, the floor beneath her collapses, and Guts throws his sword out for her to grab onto, which she does, displaying a subconscious desire to live. Guts manages to swing Theresia onto solid ground before she falls, but before she can completely recover, Guts stares at his hand and questions his actions, apparently unable to comprehend what he's just done. A furious Theresia sits up in front of Guts and blames him for the past events, and exclaims that she will be the one to kill him. As Guts gathers his cloak and the Beherit from the surrounding rubble, he invites her to do so when she is ready. Guts leaves the castle limping, and when Puck catches up, he notices tears in Guts' eyes, which the latter quickly wipes away. Wearing a more determined face, Guts and Puck leave the castle and Theresia behind. Characters in Order of Appearance * Griffith (Flashback) * Guts * Slan * Ubik * Void * Conrad * Femto * Theresia * Count * Puck * Vargas